Mike’s Transmissions

I will keep this short, if you need your transmission or rear end fixed. Go to Mike’s! I highly recommend this place!

First of all, I am SO impressed with Mike’s honesty & integrity. I thought my car probably needed a new transmission, and Wheel Works confirmed this; so if Mike had told me I needed a new transmission, I wouldn’t have doubted him for a second ~ and I would have paid about $ 2500 more than necessary! Instead, Mike determined that I actually needed new wheel bearings on both front wheels. Unfortunately, there were numerous problems getting the right parts delivered for my vehicle, which inconvenienced not only myself but also Mike as my car tied up a lift for a couple days. Mike went above & beyond, and finally drove to the parts place to pick up the right parts, rather than risk another mistaken delivery. Not only that, but he paid for one of the days of car rental (even rounded the cost up instead of down) because it took longer than he’d predicted. Although this job took longer than either of us wanted it to, he was always very up-​front about what had happened & why. I hope it’s a long time before I think I need a new transmission, but I certainly would use Mike again if I did ~ I highly recommend him.

Mike’s the best! He diagnosed and fixed my 258K miles old 1999 Sienna so superbly at VERY reasonable price with confidence that it made my holiday season merry in deed.
The minivan that had failed in Smog only test, passed with the flying colors –with the emission readings better than a new car according to the testing technician!
I highly recommend Mike.
~Kam

I’ve come here about 3 times for my transmission flush. I love that i can ask Mike a lot of questions (because i know very little about cars) and he never makes me feel like it’s a dumb question. If you have any transmission issues this is the place to go!

I had an issue with my SUVs 4×4. I called Mike and he offered to troubleshoot it for free. I was so impressed by his professionalism and sincerity. I would highly recommend him to friends and family.

i’ve deleted my positive review after my transmission continued to leak, taken car back two times and still no luck. Although he did rebuild transmission and can go on the road, its frustrating to look under my car to see the floor covered in tranny fluid. Next time i save more cash i will take it somewhere else to save my 78 trans am…

I have my Honda Civic 2001 coupe Manual Transmission and clutch rebuilt by Mike in Feb 2014. It is more than an year and is doing great now., had real trouble that time and my 2^nd and 4^th gear were slipping and scratching.

Owners advertises free inspection I’ve been having issues with my transmission, so I called. He was so rude he interrupted me while I was explaining what was happening with my car, since I had the transmission rebuilt. he interrupted me and told me with an irritated tone, to take it back where I got it rebuilt. I explained I had it rebuilt by a friend. I asked if I could bring my car in for him to inspect it to tell me what’s wrong with it and that I saw he advertises free inspections.
He says, «do you think it is fair that you bring your car to me for a free inspection, but then have it repaired some place else! «
I explained I didn’t know what was wrong with it, but if it was something external I would rather have it fixed local then if it were internal I’d bring it back to the guy that rebuilt it. But before I could finish my sentence he hung up on me!
I couldn’t believe how rude and greedy this business owner was! Wow

Great work, honest and up front. Would (and have!) go back again (different car) and suggest to others.

We had a horrible experience at Mike’s Transmissions. He is very rude disrespectful and untrustworthy.

Just before Christmas my wife told me that 2007 Yukon Denali was not working properly in reverse. I checked it out and it felt has if the brakes were being applied when trying to back up.
I found Mike’s Transmissions online and chose them based on their good Unilocal reviews.
I brought the car in and explained the problem to Mike and also mentioned that it was a tough time to have this happen right around Christmas. I was hoping it would be something simple and fairly reasonable to fix. I left the car with Mike so he could give me a free estimate.
The next day Mike called with good news. While doing their inspection they determined that it was not the transmission causing the problem. The problem was the brakes. A bolt had come loose on one of the rear brake calipers and was lost. Mike replaced the bolt and resolved the problem. He also took the time and effort to double check the opposite side of the car to make sure the bolts were tight there as well.
This ended up being a quick and inexpensive fix, however we could have easily been taken advantage of. Any shop could have said there was a problem with the transmission and charged us thousands for replacing a bolt. Mike’s Transmissions is a honest shop that won’t rip you off. Although I didn’t get any actual transmission work done there, my experience has left me confident that they’ll look out for me and do an excellent job.

Took my car into Mike’s transmissions and they did a free diagnostic check to see if anything wrong with the transmission. Nothing was and he recommend that I take my car to have the alignment checked. Very professional and knowledgeable about my car and very friendly. Would recommend you to take your car here if you have any transmission issues.

I found Mike’s on Unilocal.Based on the good reviews, I decided to give it a shot.
I had blown my transmissions 2^nd and 3^rd gears and hobbled my car over to the shop on 1^st gear. Good thing they were close!
After talking to Mike about my Yukon, I was very impressed with his confidence and knowledge. He pretty much knew what the problem was right away and gave me best and worse case scenario and prices. Turns out that it was as bad as we thought and I agreed to have them work on it.
I was so impressed with the communication and the quickness and efficiency with which the work was completed. When I went back to pick up my Yukon, Mike explained the work that was done and their shops warranty (which is very generous) very thoroughly but in a way that was easily understood.
It’s been a couple weeks and about time for my 15 day recheck and I am so pleased with how the work turned out! It’s like driving a new car.
I’ll be bringing all my future business here and recommending this shop to everyone I know!

I brought my 2003 Acura MDX in because the transmission was slipping. It was determined that I needed to replace it. It had about 160k miles, so I didn’t think dropping the $ 4500 for a new transmission was out of the ordinary. Well, after about 13 months and 15k miles the tranny failed. My $ 4500 professionally rebuilt tranny failed about month after the warranty expired. What’s worse was it failed in Modesto on a Sunday evening. I had get it towed, wife and kids in the tow truck, 89 miles back to back to Mike’s.
It was determined the Torque converter overheated and contaminated the tranny. I paid $ 2000 to fix this problem. :-(. Said my cooling system was to blame. So, we added external cooler to prevent this. $ 2k. A month after the warranty expired. No joy there.
Well, a few months later on a road trip to LA the transmission overheated AGAIN. Now I’m 200 miles from home, stuck in Lost Hills, family and all. I had it towed back to Mikes AGAIN. I had AAA Plus so I only had to shell out $ 640 for towing. Wonderful.
At Mikes, they said the torque converter overheated AGAIN, but I stopped early enough to prevent the tranny from getting contaminated. Well, Mike replaced the torque converter at no charge, but I was still stuck with a $ 641 tow, a $ 200 1-​way rental car rental, and the inconvenience of having family drive 3 hours to pick us up at Lost Hills. Oh, did I mention we lost ½ a day stuck in the middle of I5 in a Jack in the Box parking lot? So, what happened to the cooler that was installed to prevent this? Hell if I know. I didn’t ask and at that point I didn’t want to waste my breath. Last thing I needed was to piss anyone off and another $ 2000 bill to fix my transmission.
Long story short, I walked away after Mike so ‘graciously’ fixed my transmission a 3^rd time. The torque converter was replaced AGAIN. The irony of it was that as I walked out the door they said the problem may have been due to faulty electrical. Wow. No mention of the new cooler they installed which they ASSURED me would fix my overheating problem. Now they’re pointing to an electrical problem. Told me to go next door to have it checked out. Also told me I should use 4^th gear when going up hill cause it places less of a strain on the tranny. SMH.
At this point I don’t have much faith in the tranny. We only use the MDX for commuting, or nothing further than 45 miles.
I’m not happy, but ship happens. I’m never going back to Mike’s. Just didn’t feel good about my experience. Others seem to have had a better experience. Good for them. Bad for me. Oh well.

I put the car in reverse to fast and lost 3^rd gear and reverse. After finding mike on Unilocal I set up an appointment. He fix it and kept me informed. My Dad is a mechanic (professional) and I can tell you mike is the real deal and does great work. Growing up in Washington around mechanics I’m happy to have found Mike as he is honest and treats people well.
Thanks Mike, I will definitely recommend your services.
Evan

Mike replaced the transmission in our Volvo about two months ago and it is smooth, smooth, smooth. I have to say that for Mike, the process of that installation was not all that smooth (twice this supplier sent him the wrong part), but he stayed in contact with my throughout.
He is very transparent in his work — when he called to tell us that that whole transmission needed to be replaced (knowing that we were hoping to hear it was going to be a repair), he clearly explained all the issues with the system and invited us to come take a look at the bad parts so we could understand and to see that it truly did need to be replaced. When you are talking thousands of dollars this is a welcome step.
My impression is that Mike and his mechanics (ha! 80’s reference!) are skilled and honest. I recommend them without reservation.
(BTW the shop is a little hard to find — from Blossom Hill, turn into the strip of automotive repair shops right at Burrito Factory. GO down a ways and then you will see a little stub to turn into off to the right — that is where you will find Mike’s.)

Recently, I was having problems with my 2008 Ford Edge during my commute, and ended up taking it to Fremont Ford because it was the closest place to my work. They wanted to charge me $ 4,700 to replace the transmission with a 3 year warranty. Thought it was a little pricy, so I decided to give Mike a try based on Unilocal reviews. Had my car towed to the shop on a Saturday and Mike was nice enough to lock it up over the weekend.
After giving me the free diagnosis, he mentioned that he had done a few Ford Edges and that it should be about $ 3,000-$ 3,750 to repair. That the worst Ford Edge he had worked on was $ 3,750. Thought I was getting a deal compared to the Ford Dealership, so I agreed. Ends up turning out that I was on the high end of that estimate and paid about $ 3,800 for parts/​labor and had to pay another $ 150 to get my computer system updated. My grand total was $ 4,010.89. After paying to get my car towed to the shop ($ 130), I only saved about $ 560 from the dealership with only a one year warranty.
Not only was that disappointing, it also took Mike 9 business days to get my transmission done. He gave me this long detailed story about how his mechanics got sick, and how the shop that did the computer update was closed, delaying the job. Bottom line is that it took way too long and he didn’t even bother to offer a discount for the long delay.
The ultimate slap in the face was when I rushed home after work to pick up my car and stopped by the shop to tell him I left my wallet at home and ask him if he could wait a few minutes so I could come and pay him his money. He had the nerve to tell me to hurry up because the shop closed in ten minutes. I was expecting to hear from him, «Sure, no problem. I kept you waiting for two weeks, so the least I can do is wait a few minutes for you.»
Finally, after all his overwhelming explanations and transmission talk, I drove off not feeling any better about his work. The transmission still slipped and I didn’t feel any safer in my car. Decided to cut my losses, and purchased a brand new car.
Was not impressed at all with his customer service or transmission work. He loved to hit me with the line,“I don’t call them DEALERSHIPS, I call them STEALERSHIPS.” Funny thing is, I trusted Mike over Fremont Ford and still feel like I got robbed.

I got a used manual car, and within a week we started having problems. I took it to another mechanic that was closer without checking Unilocal for reviews, bad idea. He told me that I didn’t know how to drive my car, degraded me, replaced my clutch without authorisation, told me I needed a new transmission, and within a week it was in the shop again. This time, we found Mike and his team on Unilocal.This was the best decision ever for my car.
He found out that my axels were just leaking and replaced them, and for a reasonable price compared to other rip off places. The next week my car would not go into reverse, puzzled we went back to Mike. He quoted us a price for labor to take out the transmission and take it apart to find the problem. Well, it was a bracket keeping my wires in place, didn’t charge me the labor price but a cheaper one for what they did and explained that it was an early Christmas present for me. I almost cried from joy.
If you want an honest transmission expert, MIKE IS THE WAY TO GO. HE’S THE BEST.

A Husband and wife team that has been in the business for 26 years. Stop and think about what that mean alone –beyond that, the service is flawless. I dropped off a pretty rare car (67 Barracuda) — while many know the brand — few have seen that year and even fewer are willing to work on them. Mike was excited – passionate about the car, the performance and the opportunity.
The car had just gone through a ground up restoration – but the performance was lacking. The transmission needed to be tuned and there was no kickdown from third to second gear. Mike solved this in no time and at a great price.
His rates are fair at list — after the experience his rates are more than justified.
The company has a faith based social justice program that is very robust and impressive. I believe in companies who give back — its a sign that they know its about more than just making the dollar – its about making a positive impact — its a very cool thing they do
My only complaint — Mike won’t spend my money without explaining every detail why and asking for authorization. A service some may love but it was a ten dollar part. He is just that kind of guy and I am the kind of guy who wants it fixed right and loves that Mike is passionate about transmissions so I don’t have to be.
You can trust mike with any transmission on any car. Even something that is as rare and «valuable» as the Cuda
Big Fan of the mechanics, end-​to-​end service and social justice model Mike’s Transmission’s offers the Bay Area.

Our old 1996 Dodge Grand Caravan (166k miles) was having transmission problems (sometimes the engine rev up without engaging the next gear at about 25 mph, the rest of the time it would not shift to higher gears). I talked with Mike and he said to bring it in for a free evaluation.
He took a look at it, hooked it up to his test equipment, and gave it a test drive. He gave me a thorough explanation of his findings and what was likely going on inside the transmission. All of his explanations made sense and fit the symptoms that we have observed. The diagnosis was that there are likely lots of metal bits floating around blocking sensors; this is likely caused by metal on metal inside the transmission. It likely needs to be rebuilt.
From this stage, he quoted $ 550 to take apart the transmission to see of there is a less expensive repair possible. Given that this car has a value of only 60% of the rebuild cost, it does not appear to be cost effective to repair. Mike agreed.
He did not try to push any repairs and was completely honest about the situation.
When I tried to pay something for his trouble and labor for the inspection and diagnosis, his wife politely refused.
The next time I have a transmission issue (on a vehicle that is worth repairing) I will consider Mike at the top of the list to consult.